Checkmarx One vs Contrast Security Protect comparison

Why PeerSpot?

Checkmarx and Contrast Security are both solutions in the Application Security Tools category. Checkmarx is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.3, while Contrast Security is ranked #36. Checkmarx holds a 7.3% mindshare in AS, compared to Contrast Security’s 1.1% mindshare. Additionally, 88% of Checkmarx users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Contrast Security users who would recommend it.

Checkmarx One

Read 81 Checkmarx One reviews

29,420 Views
16,181 Comparison Views

88% willing to recommend

Contrast Security Protect

Read 3 Contrast Security Protect reviews

2,299 Views
2,184 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Checkmarx One

Contrast Security Protect

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 8, 2024

Checkmarx One and Contrast Security Protect compete in application security. Checkmarx One has an advantage in pricing and user support, whereas Contrast Security Protect stands out with strong features justifying its cost.

Features: Checkmarx One offers comprehensive vulnerability detection, multi-repository compatibility, and competitive pricing strategies. Contrast Security Protect provides real-time protection, continuous monitoring, and excellent integration capabilities.

Room for Improvement: Checkmarx One needs better performance speed, improved user training resources, and enhanced customer service. Contrast Security Protect requires more customization, scalability improvements, and a smoother deployment process.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Checkmarx One is easy to deploy, yet users seek better customer support. Contrast Security Protect, despite a challenging deployment, offers superior customer service, balancing its shortcomings.

Pricing and ROI: Checkmarx One is cost-effective with satisfactory ROI. Contrast Security Protect has higher initial costs, justified by its extensive feature set and substantial long-term ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Checkmarx One vs. Contrast Security Protect Report (Updated: September 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Checkmarx One vs. Contrast Security Protect

September 2026

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Checkmarx One

Ranking in Application Security Tools

2nd

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Static Application Security Testing (SAST) (2nd), Vulnerability Management (12th), Container Security (15th), Static Code Analysis (2nd), API Security (5th), Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) (2nd), DevSecOps (3rd), Risk-Based Vulnerability Management (9th), Application Security Posture Management (ASPM) (4th), AI Security (4th)

Contrast Security Protect

Ranking in Application Security Tools

36th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

5.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Application Security Tools category, the mindshare of Checkmarx One is 7.3%, down from 10.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Contrast Security Protect is 1.1%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Security Tools Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Checkmarx One	7.3%
Contrast Security Protect	1.1%
Other	91.6%

Application Security Tools

Featured Reviews

Shahzad Shahzad

Senior Solution Architect | L3+ Systems & Cloud Engineer | SRE Specialist at Canada Cloud Solution

Enable secure development workflows while identifying opportunities for faster scans and improved AI guidance

Checkmarx One is a very strong platform, but there are several areas where it can improve to support modern DevSecOps workflows even better. For example, better real-time developer guidance is needed. The IDE plugin should offer richer AI-powered auto-fixes similar to SNYK Code or GitHub Copilot Security, as current guidance is good but not deeply contextual for large-scale enterprise codebases. This matters because it reduces developer friction and accelerates shift-left adoption. More transparency control over the correlation engines is another need. The correlation engine is powerful but not fully transparent. Users want to understand why vulnerabilities were correlated or de-prioritized, which helps AppSec teams trust the prioritization logic. Faster SAST scan and more language coverage is needed since SAST scan can still be slow for very large mono-repos and there is limited deep support for new language frameworks like Rust and Go, along with advanced coverage for serverless-specific frameworks. This matters because large organizations want sub-minute scans in CI/CD as cloud-native ecosystems evolve fast. A strong API security module is another area for enhancement. API security scanning could be improved with active testing, API discovery, full Swagger, OpenAPI, drift detection, and schema-based fuzzing. This is important as API attacks are one of the biggest AppSec risks in 2025. Checkmarx One is strong, but I see a few areas for improvement including faster SAST scanning for large mono-repos, deeper language framework support, more transparent correlation logic, and stronger API security that includes discovery and runtime context. The IDE plugin could offer more AI-assisted fixes, and the SBOM lifecycle tracking can evolve further. Enhancing integration with SIEM and SOAR would also make enterprise adoption smoother, and these improvements would help developers and AppSec teams move faster with more accuracy.

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ToddMcAlister

Lead Application and Data Security Engineer at a insurance company with 5,001-10,000 employees

It provides us with more in-depth visibility into ongoing attacks.

I rate Contrast Security Protect eight out of 10. Overall, it's a solid product, but I deduct a couple of points because of the interface and some shortcomings in the reporting. If you have a large enterprise where you're dealing with a lot of servers, then it makes sense not to use the internal MySQL database. You should use something like Oracle or Microsoft SQL, but if you don't have many transactions, the embedded MySQL database works great.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"After scanning, it shows in-depth code of where actual vulnerabilities are, which helps us to analyze them."

"It is very easy to insert the tool in the SDLC because there are a wide variety of ways to access the source-code, initiate scans, and review the results."

"What I like best about Checkmarx is that it has fewer false positives than other products, giving you better results."

"From my point of view, it is the best product on the market."

"The identification of verification-related security vulnerabilities is really important and one of the key things, and it also identifies vulnerabilities for any kind of third-party tool coming into the system or any third-party tools that you are using, which is very useful for avoiding random hacking."

"The most valuable feature is that it actually identifies the different criteria you can set to meet whatever standards you're trying to get your system accredited for."

"Initial setup couldn't be any easier; Checkmarx has good documentation on environment requirements, and as long as you meet those, the installation process takes maybe 30 minutes for an initial setup, perhaps a bit longer if you're adding multiple engines."

"It's not an obstacle for developers. They can easily write their code and make it more secure with Checkmarx."

More Checkmarx One pros

"The Protect solution allows applications to continue to run, even with known vulnerabilities, but will report or block attempts to exploit the vulnerabilities."

"The solution has excellent real-time capabilities."

"Protect provides us with more in-depth visibility into ongoing attacks."

"Contrast Security's support is great. They're willing to spend a lot of time on your problem."

"The product gives a few false positives. We get 99 percent true positives."

Cons

"The statistics module has a function that allows you to show some statistics, but I think it's limited. Maybe it needs more information."

"This solution is not very easily scalable, and seems to lack the capability to manage a high volume of applications."

"When we first ran it on a big project, there wasn't enough memory on the computer. It originally ran with eight gigabytes, and now it runs with 32. The software stopped at some point, and while I don't think it said it ran out of memory, it just said "stopped" and something else. We had to go to the logs and send them to the integrator, and eventually, they found a memory issue in the logs and recommended increasing the memory. We doubled it once, and it didn't seem enough. We doubled it again, and it helped."

"It takes around 30 to 40 minutes for checking a build. If you can make it within five minutes or 10 minutes, that would be great."

"The solution's user interface could be improved because it seems outdated."

"I would like to see the rate of false positives reduced."

"It could be improved with more reporting of false positives and the understanding of file references."

"Some of the descriptions were found to be missing or were not as elaborate as compared to other descriptions. Although, they could be found across various standard sources but it would save a lot of time for developers, if this was fixed."

More Checkmarx One cons

"Protect's reporting GUI is very basic. To get all statuses from the APIs, we needed to write our own KPI dashboard to provide reports."

"There's room for improvement in the initial setup."

"We're not using it much anymore because we had some performance issues."

"Contrast Security Protect needs to improve integration."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"For around 250 users or committers, the cost is approximately $500,000."

"I believe pricing is better compared to other commercial tools."

"Before implementing the product I would evaluate if it is really necessary to scan so many different languages and frameworks. If not, I think there must be a cheaper solution for scanning Java-only applications (which are 90% of our applications)."

"Be cautious of the one-year subscription date. Once it expires, your price will go up."

"Checkmarx is comparatively costlier than other products, which is why some of the customers feel reluctant to go for it, though performance-wise, Checkmarx can compete with other products."

"This solution is expensive. The customized package allows you to buy additional users at any time."

"The pricing is competitive and provides a lower TCO (total cost of ownership) for achieving application security."

"Checkmarx is not a cheap scanning tool, but none of the security tools are cheap. Checkmarx is a powerful scanning tool, and it’s essential to have one of these products."

More Checkmarx One pricing and cost advice

Information not available

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

15%

Manufacturing Company

Outsourcing Company

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

17%

Manufacturing Company

Construction Company

Outsourcing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	32
Midsize Enterprise	9
Large Enterprise	46

No data available

Questions from the Community

What alternatives are there for Fortify WebInspect and Fortify SCA?

I would like to recommend Checkmarx. With Checkmarx, you are able to have an all in one solution for SAST and SCA as well. Veracode is only a cloud solution. Hope this helps.

See all answers

What is the biggest difference between Veracode and Checkmarx?

According to my experience of using both the tools in different organizations Veracode is a Cloud-native, managed AppSec platform with strong focus on ease of use, it is SaaS delivery, and provide...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Checkmarx?

Checkmarx One is a premium solution, so budget accordingly. Make sure you understand how licensing scales with additional applications and users. I advise negotiating multi-year contracts or bundle...

See all answers

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Comparisons

SonarQube vs Checkmarx One

Compared 24% of the time

Veracode vs Checkmarx One

Compared 3% of the time

Checkmarx SAST vs Checkmarx One

Compared 2% of the time

Snyk vs Checkmarx One

Compared 2% of the time

Fortify Software Security Center vs Checkmarx One

Compared 2% of the time

More Checkmarx One Competitors

SonarQube vs Contrast Security Protect

Compared 9% of the time

Sqreen vs Contrast Security Protect

Compared 7% of the time

RevealSecurity vs Contrast Security Protect

Compared 5% of the time

OpenText Core Application Security vs Contrast Security Protect

Compared 5% of the time

Veracode vs Contrast Security Protect

Compared 5% of the time

More Contrast Security Protect Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Checkmarx One

September 2026

Download Checkmarx One product report

Buyer's Guide

Application Security Tools

September 2026

Download Contrast Security Protect product report

Also Known As

No data available

Contrast Protect

Overview

Checkmarx One delivers robust security through seamless integration with SCM and CI/CD tools, ensuring reliable SAST and SCA. Primarily used by organizations for vulnerability detection, it supports cloud and on-premises deployment to enhance secure coding practices.

Checkmarx One provides organizations with comprehensive tools for secure software development, integrating effectively with CI/CD pipelines to scan thousands of applications. Its capabilities extend to identifying vulnerabilities in both code bases and third-party software. Enhancing workflow by supporting SCM solutions, it assists in maintaining secure coding standards and compliance. While excelling in various areas, it requires improvements in scan speed, reduction of false positives, and broader platform integration, particularly for COBOL and Swift. Its pricing model is noted as high, and demand exists for better tutorials and documentation.

What are the key features of Checkmarx One?

Comprehensive Integration: Seamlessly connects with SCM, CI/CD tools to streamline security workflows.
Accurate SAST and SCA: Precisely identifies vulnerabilities down to the exact line of code.
Custom Rules Configuration: Allows tailored security measures to match specific needs.
Quick Scanning: Provides fast analysis to speed up the development process.
Automated Code Remediation: Helps in efficiently fixing code vulnerabilities.

What benefits should users expect in reviews?

Improved Security: Enhances code safety, reducing vulnerabilities efficiently.
Effective False Positivity Management: Optimizes time spent on genuine issues.
Enhanced Development Processes: Integrates smoothly to boost secure coding initiatives.
Comprehensive Language Support: Facilitates scanning in multiple programming languages, accommodating diverse needs.

Industries implement Checkmarx One for secure coding compliance and vulnerability management across varying environments, choosing between cloud and on-premises deployment based on requirements. Its extensive language support and integration with DevSecOps practices make it a popular choice for organizations aiming to enhance software security.

Checkmarx

Contrast Security Protect is an innovative security solution designed to provide continuous protection for applications through real-time analysis and automatic detection of vulnerabilities, ensuring robust safeguard measures during development and deployment phases.

Designed for advanced application security, Contrast Security Protect integrates seamlessly into DevOps workflows, offering continuous monitoring and protection against potential threats. Its intelligent architecture delivers in-depth insights and real-time analytics, enabling faster intervention to prevent breaches and maintain operational integrity. Facilitation of risk management is enhanced by in-app guidance and prompt alerts, supporting developers in addressing vulnerabilities efficiently.

What are the key features of Contrast Security Protect?

Real-Time Monitoring: Constantly checks applications for security breaches and vulnerabilities as they run.
Automated Threat Detection: Identifies and neutralizes threats without manual intervention.
Developer-Focused Insights: Provides actionable insights for developers to improve application security promptly.
Seamless DevOps Integration: Ensures smooth incorporation into existing DevOps practices.
In-App Guidance: Offers guidance within the application for resolving vulnerabilities.

What benefits and ROI can users expect?

Enhanced Security Posture: Offers continuous protection, reducing the risk of data breaches.
Increased Efficiency: Minimizes manual effort for identifying and correcting vulnerabilities.
Operational Integrity: Maintains uninterrupted business operations by mitigating threats swiftly.
Cost Savings: Reduces potential expenses related to data breaches and compliance penalties.

Contrast Security Protect is particularly beneficial in industries with stringent compliance requirements such as finance and healthcare, where application security is critical. By implementing these solutions, organizations in these sectors can effectively manage risk while ensuring compliance, enhancing overall security infrastructure.

Contrast Security

Sample Customers

YIT, Salesforce, Coca-Cola, SAP, U.S. Army, Liveperson, Playtech Case Study: Liveperson Implements Innovative Secure SDLC

Williams-Sonoma, Autodesk, HUAWEI, Chromeriver, RingCentral, Demandware.

Buyer's Guide

Checkmarx One vs. Contrast Security Protect

September 2026

Free Report: Checkmarx One vs. Contrast Security Protect

Find out what your peers are saying about Checkmarx One vs. Contrast Security Protect and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.

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